Canada Case Law

Murphy v. The Owners, Strata Plan VR 1291

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

On the facts and expert record the proposed renewal works (excluding the west elevation) were necessary within s.173(2) because chronic and widespread water ingress, rising costs of piecemeal repairs, and professional evaluations established a reasonable way to address the risk of significant loss; the Court exercised its discretion to approve the $54,000,000 special levy (with adjusted payment dates) deference being afforded to the strata council's commercially informed decision; given an ongoing deadlock specific to the west wall the Court appointed an administrator with a limited one-year…

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• Special levy approval
• Section 173(2) necessity test
• Administrator appointment under s.174
• Building envelope renewal
• Deadlock resolution
• Deference to strata council

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SWS Marketing Inc. v. Zavier

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The defendant owners made bona fide efforts to purge contempt by offering to apply the $25,000 security plus offsets to the specified court-ordered costs; under the strictissimi juris principle the amounts necessary to purge contempt are the definitive sums set out in the contempt ruling (not speculative interest or enforcement costs), therefore the $25,000 plus interest shall be applied and the computed offsets reduce the outstanding court-ordered costs to $31,854.71, payable within seven days; judgments registered against Mr. Gauthier's property (CB1022912 and CB1107567) are cancelled if th…

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• Contempt sentencing
• Offset of costs
• Release of security
• Standing to sue
• Service of process
• Strata fee collection

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The Owners, Strata Plan 962 v. Rochette

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Appeal allowed and claim dismissed because it is a foundational rule that a party cannot recover the costs of the same proceeding as tort damages and there is no principled basis or pleaded category of recoverable pure economic loss to justify an exception; the chambers judge erred in failing to apply this rule and the restrictive principles governing pure economic loss.

Source excerpt

• Duty of care
• Pure economic loss
• Costs as damages
• Strata council conflict of interest
• Strike pleadings
• Res judicata

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Keen v. The Owners, Strata Plan NW 2408

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The proposed installation of the 36" x 54" window in unit 30, installed on the terms agreed April 28, 2025 (clear glass at least seven feet above the landing), would amount to a significant change in the use and appearance of common property under s.71 SPA and Bylaw 14(9); the Council's settlement that allowed the change without obtaining a three-quarters owners' vote and without proper consultation was significantly unfair to the Unit 31 Owners and must be set aside; accordingly the Unit 31 Petition is allowed and the Unit 30 Petition dismissed.

Source excerpt

• Significant change to common property
• Bylaw interpretation
• Unfair acts and remedy (ss.164-165 spa)
• Section 71 spa
• Bylaw 14(9)
• Foley factors

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Coyle v. McGuire

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

No live controversy within the ambit of s.33 remained such that the appeal from dismissal should be entertained; the prior adjudication and related proceedings supported cause of action estoppel/practical finality, and the chambers judge did not err in exercising discretion to award special costs because the petition constituted an abuse of process and inefficient, duplicative litigation.

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• Section 33 strata property act
• Cause of action estoppel
• Mootness
• Abuse of process
• Special costs
• Indemnity bylaws

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Zhang v. The Owners, Strata Plan BCS 4288

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The affidavit purportedly sworn by Xiaofei Sun was not authenticated and appeared fabricated; therefore it was inadmissible as fresh evidence; no reversible error was shown in the chambers judge's discretionary refusal to adjourn or in referring the accounting to the registrar; appellant's misconduct warranted special costs, so the appeal is dismissed and special costs awarded to the respondent.

Source excerpt

• Lien enforcement
• Adjournment
• Fresh evidence admissibility
• Affidavit commissioning
• Special costs
• Registrar accounting

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The Residential Section of the Owners, Strate Plan NW 3365 v. The Commercial Section of the Owners, Strata Plan 3365

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Bylaw 2000 cannot be read to allocate repair and maintenance of common property that is not solely attributable to one section to only that section; the building envelope and related common property of the Mixed-Use Building are common property for which the Strata Corporation is responsible, and all owners must contribute to repair and maintenance costs in proportion to unit entitlement.

Source excerpt

• Common property
• Common expenses
• Bylaw interpretation
• Sections of strata corporation
• Building envelope repairs
• Allocation of costs

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The Owners, Strata Plan VR 195

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court approved a $3.4 million strata special levy for major parkade repairs, finding the work necessary to prevent damage and safe, despite dissenting owners’ objections.

• Special levy
• Section 173 strata property act
• Necessity of repairs
• Conflict of interest
• Costs
• Strata-property-law

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Maughan v. Owners of Strata Plan VR 778

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court found the strata corporation acted significantly unfairly by shifting common-property repair costs and trying to relocate a rooftop patio railing.

• Significant unfairness under s.164 spa
• Repair and maintenance of common property s.72 spa
• Limited common property vs common property
• Bylaw validity and scope
• Conversion of lcp to strata lot
• Standing and bad faith of council members

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The Owners, Strata Plan NW 1874 v. Welsh

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court dismissed judicial review of RTB decisions, upheld the finding that no tenancy or licence was proven, rejected the fraud and fairness arguments, and amended the style of cause.

• Standard of review (patent unreasonableness)
• Statutory interpretation of spa s.138 and rta
• Jurisdiction of administrative tribunal
• Procedural fairness
• Internal review under rta s.79
• Eviction remedies

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